Cemoto

That's quite a story . . . .

Cactus

I thought the wheels would at least be CHROME........

Cemoto

Great observation . . . same M.O.

Chuck W.

I have some experience with salvage cars. Eleven years ago (2001) I bought a 2000 Audi A4 with 8,000 miles on it from a salvage yard. It had been hit hard in the rear and needed a rear clip. I was introduced to a body shop that did great work but was in a part of town that you would not normally visit. When the dust settled, I had $12,000 into the car. It was a year old with the window sticker (still in the car) of $30,000. My son drove the car then handed it down to his sister. It was totaled in a traffic collision in 2008 when it had 80,000 miles on it (other parties fault). The insurance company paid $12,000 for the car. The salvage title was not taken into consideration by the insurance company.

In 2003 I also rebuild a 2002 Audi S4 Avant that had 5,000 miles on it. It was hit lightly on the front left fender, A-Pillar and driver’s door. It cost less than $8000 to repair the car and I had $24,000 into it when done. The window sticker on that car was $43,000. I drove it for five years and up to 50,000 miles and sold it for $14,000. Without the salvage title it would have gone in the $18,000 range.

In 2004 I bought four damaged 2002 and 2003 VW Passats and build three. One for each daughter. Over the years two were totaled and one sold. The one we sold we sold for $3,000 less than a non-salvage car. The ones that were totaled were paid off by the insurance companies for several thousand dollars that I had built them for. The insurance company (State Farm) treated the cars value as if they were not salvage titles.

In 2006 I rebuilt a BMW 530I. In 2011 it was totaled and the same story as above.

My 993 cab was hit hard in the front when I bought it. I had $28,000 into the car when done and sold it after 5 years and 40,000 miles for $18,000. It was a tip and would have brought $25,000 without the salvage title.

My best buy of a salvaged car was a water damaged car for my daughter; a 2005 Audi A4 with 18,000 miles. I went through the car with a fine tooth comb and couldn’t see any indication of water damage. Drove great and everything worked. We bought the car and got it home. The first time we washed it the windshield leaked badly. I had the windshield removed and resealed. The car now has 100,000 miles on it.

A lot of cars are written off by insurance companies as totals and given salvaged titles because the owners refuse to take them back and threaten, or start, litigation. If you buy a new car and get hit by someone else and it is their fault, you don’t want the car repaired and back. You want a new car. The Audi S4 was a perfect example. It should have never been salvaged.

My recommendation is never ever buy a salvage title car unless you know firsthand the reason for the salvage title and see documentation on the repairs. Also, IMHO, if you buy one, plan on keeping it until the title is not that much of an issue. With some cars, like 993s, it will always be an issue.

Falcondrivr

Damn Chuck. Your family totaled 5 cars in 5 years?

Chuck W.

Don't remind me. I think it was four and of the four, two of the daughters were at fault. One was me in the BMW hitting a Little Rascal scooter on the freeway that someone dropped,,, and kept going.

nile13

Incorrect. There are many circumstances where this is not the case. If a car is stolen and not recovered in 30 days it automatically becomes salvaged in most states, for example.

nile13

It's a $25K car if the body work story checks out and alignment can be proven to be straight.

I would subtract another $3K for ALL CAPS.

PecosBill

A branded tile is a death knell to the value of a vehicle... to a point. When you think about all the classic cars that have been rebuilt from a couple of beat up and rusted panels, and then crossed the auction block for millions, you start realizing the thinking behind the valuation of a salvaged car is a little skewed. A totaled vehicle, as designated by an insurance company, is branded that way purely because it is the cheaper option for them, it does not mean that the car is unrepairable. That being said, modern vehicles are much harder to repair correctly than the classic cars of yesteryear. In my opinion, if a vehicle's story checks out, and if it passes a thorough inspection, then a car with a branded title can be decent option when looking to buy into an usually spendy vehicle. I used to buy quite a few of them, and the best buys were always "over 30 day theft recoveries". No, to very little, damage, and still cheap because of the brand. Some people don't like the idea because of the lower resale, but if you're buying it right, that really isn't a downside.

Falcondrivr

Well here's one for the Atlanta guys
http://www.copart.com/c2/homeSearch....SEARCH_RESULTS

M. Schneider

Hilarious ! The Axe Murder'r girlfriend ... I'm recalling an episode from . . Kid's In The Hall.

Salvage Title , why bother.

pp000830

Lots of reasons a car will have a salvage title. Some are serious, flooding, major wreck, some not:
A salvage title can be issued simply when a car is towed and the owner never finds the tow lot and makes a theft loss claim to his insurer. Later the car pops up after the owner has been paid off on the claim and the tow lot starts looking for someone to pay the storage charges for the car they have been holding for several months. The insurer is issued a salvage title at this point.
I would think if you can document the reason for the issuing of the salvage title and also show any reasons why it did not relate to vehicle condition you should be able to mitigate value issue. If it received a salvage title due to damage then you will need to find out what work was done after the title was issued to mitigate any of the conditional issues. All this will help any prospective seller/buyer relationship come up with a fair market value at some time in the future.
Then again if you are asking if you can sell the car in the future at a premium even though it went swimming in the Atlantic ocean some time in its past. I can’t help you.
Andy

SantAustin

I think that buying a salvage car makes sence if the price is really low. I got my car at easyexport.us and I got it really cheaply as it is an auction for rebuildable cars for sale, but of course you need to estimate the damage and how much you will spend to repair it. The rule is that altogether with repairs and so on the car should be cheaper than the same new car, than it may be justified risk.

budge96

Saw plenty of these when I used to live in california! a lot of theft recoveries as well where C2's and
'95 993's were stolen for tops,wheels,bumpers and interiors sometimes leaving whole drivetrains intact..
Earlier on in the lifespan of these cars of course it was much more difficult to justify a total but in some
respects the parts cost was so astronomical it had to be done.
I actually had a few myself Cab 964 '91,cab 993 '95 another 964 '93 Cab the cost of repair if non
structural was well worth it because the same insurance company and banks would insure and finance
the vehicle because of that finished value.
Aand should it get totalled again if it was insured as low mileage the value stays high...ask me how I know....Bert
In other words as drivers their not that bad if correctly repaired or as some previous posters mentioned
may have no significant damage what so ever just had been misplaced (impounded) for thirty days...
thats all it takes!